Yuya
by SayahYagashi
Summary: Kyo becomes the new Aka Nou Ou and the Mibu Clan is on the brink of discovering the Cure at last. Yuya goes to search for her past along with a strange friend but what she discovers may change all their lives. CHAPTER SIX UP NOW!
1. One

_**Hey readers! This is my 1st SDK story...actaully my 1st ever on fanfic. **_

_**PLease read and review! All coments would be appreciated and ideas considered!**_

_**Thanks!**_

'...' -normal speech

"_Italics_" -memories

[...] -past events

_Italics _-thoughts

_

_

_

**1.**

**Present Day,**

**The Mibu Castle,**

**Japan**

**_**

'Get me Okuni!'

The new Aka No Ou screamed at everyone in general. Several soldiers hurried out in alarm, while Shinrei, who was standing only feet away from Kyo's throne, winced at the level of tone.

Demon Eyes Kyo, who had been insufferable before, had almost become worse since Shiina Yuya had disappeared.

It was true, that he was a good (if uncouth ruler), though he would go on long lonely expeditions without telling anyone which did cause a lot of bureaucratic problems, but the Mibu Clan was prospering like never before, now that there was no twisted mind pulling strings behind anyone, just like the entire country was flourishing under the new Tokugawa Ieyasu. People had already begun to call it the Golden Age. The Mibu past was forgotten, which was well with everybody.

But ever since, the famous bounty huntress, who had changed the heart of a demon, had gone away, Kyo had become more and more withdrawn; many a time he had gone alone to look for her, when all other people failed, but to no avail.

Today, he had called all the new reinstated four elders: Yuan, who was happy to be again with his family, the loss of Hotaru, who had also disappeared, met by Shinrei and Rourou; Akari, who was busy finishing Hshigi's work; Shinrei, who was helping Akari and becoming more sociable by the day, as Yuan put it and finally Tokito, who had nothing better to do, since Akira had forcibly left her behind to train alone in China.

'Seat yourselves now or do I have to tell everything!?' Kyo yelled as he settled back comfortably on his throne, propping his feet up on the hand-rest.

The elders seated themselves and on a lower dais, Kyoshiro, Sakuya and Shihohodou sat down, the latter glancing disapprovingly at Kyo. Two years into the job and he had yet not learnt the proper etiquettes of a ruler. Heck, he did not even _behave_ properly with anyone!

'So,' began Kyo, picking his teeth 'Anything interesting happen? You, the servant in white, you speak first!'

Beaming, Akari stood up, 'Thank you Kyo! I knew you'd pick me first! I wanted to tell you this myse-'

'Get on with it!' Kyo snarled.

'-lf, oh yes. Well, all of you would be happy and surprised to know (if Shinrei has not already babbled everything) but according to my experiments and Shinrei's reports and the samples we have taken from Rourou, it seems that we have finally found the true nature of the Disease!' she finished breathlessly.

An excited murmur of interest ran around the hall, instantly quenched by Kyo's Red Eyes.

'And what precisely is it?' Yuan asked eagerly leaning forward. The cure meant a lot more to him than anyone else for he had his entire family to take care of.

'Well, here's the catch,' Shinrei cut in between, frowning at Akari, 'we know about the real nature of the Disease, and we _almost_ know how to correct it, but we can't do it. We can't stop it, not at present at least.'

'And why is that?'

'Yes, why can't we!?'

_'What are you saying Shinrei!?'_

'SILENCE!' barked Kyo; he hated when too many people started talking loudly at once.' You,' he indicated towards Shinrei, 'start from the beginning.'

Shinrei stood up gratefully, ignoring the murderous glares by Akari, who did not appreciate being made to lose her moment of glory and began speaking in his formal yet forceful tone. 'The Disease, as we know, has progressed to some extent in all the Mibu Clan, save the last true Mibu child, Aka No Ou. We, me and Akari-san, have conducted many tests on Rourou and dug back in the Mibu history and have finally come up with the truth. And it is as strange as it gets.

Till now, we have thought that the Disease was an inherent factor in all the battle dolls. However, this is not _entirely_ true. The True Mibu Clan of the old, made the first Battle Dolls without the disease. Soon, as more and more battle dolls were created, better, finer, more efficient models; models that were almost like the Mibu in their appearance and abilities, some of the elders began to grow afraid. They feared, and rightly so, that the day would come, when all the battle dolls would turn upon their masters and the entertainers of the Mibu would become their slaughterers.

So, they gave rise to a project, known as the Project Holy Destruction, if the old documents are right.

Under this project, all the battle dolls that were created were injected with a strange germ, which had caused the death of the Mibu Clan, who had come back from missions overseas. As the battle dolls reproduced, the germ in their blood multiplied in their children's and began shortening their lives and weakening the future battle dolls. And now we are only guessing what must have happened, as we have no records or clues to guide us but we are quite positive something of this nature occurred.

One of the first battle dolls must have come to know of this plot. He managed to save a female battle doll from being injected with the germs and hid her somewhere and having the germs injected in a woman of the true Mibu instead. Being the true Mibu, the disease spread among them much faster then in the battle dolls and this was partly the reason that the battle dolls, though, no longer as perfect as before were able to eradicate the true Mibu, the other reason being of course that no children were being born in the Mibu Clan. This, as we know, is the history of the Disease.'

There was numbing silence as everyone digested this news.

'Then,' said Yuan slowly, as realization crashed onto him, 'then that means...that...the first battle doll...the one that saved…that was…the Former Aka No Ou?'

'Yes, Yuan-sama,' Akari nodded.

'So, Rourou was actually...was actually the daughter of...of the Former Aka No Ou!' Tokito said, her eyes round as saucers.

'Very good Tokito,' answered Shinrei, 'We have presumed that at some point in history, the Former Aka No Ou, Mibu Kyouchirou, must have felt the first sign of the disease stirring inside him and must have felt the need to bring out 'his' special battle doll. It can be said that he was intimately involved with her and they had had Rourou. And the anti-bodies must have multiplied in her.'

'But how come Rourou had the anti-bodies in her blood?' asked Kyoshiro confused, 'For all we know Rourou's…mother never had the anti-bodies or the germs in her body for that matter!'

This time Akari stood up to speak, 'There is a technique called vaccination,' Kyoshiro muttered a small 'Oh!' of comprehension. 'In this technique, a very small quantity of the desired disease germs is put into the person's body so that the natural cells of the body can create warrior-cells to fight them. Kyouchirou must have allowed such cells, such anti-bodies to be formed in his battle doll; instead of overloading her with germs like the elder Mibu were doing with the other dolls. Since, all this happened such a long time ago, we have come to believe that battle dolls were built with such a defect, a defect that Kyouchirou ensured was not in his battle doll. '

'Instead, his battle doll had the anti-bodies! The cure that could have one day saved all!' Shinrei finished.

'He did not save himself then,' Sakuya spoke up timidly, 'but he chose to save the one he loved.'

'Don't be so soft Sakuya-san!' Yuan said angrily, 'That bastard could have helped Hshigi and Fubuki-sama in their research to cure us all! He could have told us about all of-'

'Well I think he meant to do this, I mean tell us about the cure.' butted in Shihohodou, as blunt as ever, straightening her large hat. 'Once the True Mibu had died, I think he was waiting for the right time to reveal that the disease could be cured, so that all the Mibu dolls could live happily again.'

'But he did not, did he?' Tokito rounded on her angrily, 'he was happy to keep Rourou next to him so that _he_ could be saved! And all he did was lecture us about how there was no way the Mibu clan could be saved and that we were all scum!' she said deathly quiet, her eyes (so like and unlike Muramasa's) betraying her rage, '_He_ was the real scum! He could have made everything right!' He could have helped cure us ALL!'

'Well, that was all in the past,' said Shinrei quickly, sensing that the assembly could become disruptive as Shihohodou opened her mouth to argue, 'the real challenge in front of us was to determine how we could produce the same immunity that Rourou has. The best we can do now is to inject all the Mibu Clan with Rourou's anti-bodies. But this is a very risky process. First of all, Rourou never had the _actual_ Disease in her, only the anti-bodies, from her mother. So, we don't know if injecting the Mibus with them would be fruitful or not because we never really got to know if the former Aka No Ou was able to resist the disease due to his immediacy to Rourou or not. And the Disease is a very deep manifestation in the Mibus. If the strong anti-bodies that Rourou has do work, then they could also destroy other body cells apart from those of the dise-'

'GYAAAH!' Kyo growled in frustration ('I personally though he'd interfere before this!' Kyoshiro whispered to Sakuya quickly).

'First you bore me with a load of shit about that Kyouchirou bastard, that I shouldn't have killed him, so that you could have dissected him in your rat-hole laboratory! Then you say that you haven't found the cure at all! So, why the hell am I still listening to you lot bitching that you can't do anything!?' Kyo barked angrily.

Shinrei paled under his snow-white mane of hair, 'We do have another solution, Aka No Ou.'

'Well, spit it out!'

'Find Rourou's mother.'

'What?!' said Yuan, startled and sat up straight.

'Yes,' Akari said, 'that's right Yuan-sama; we always wondered why the Former Aka No Ou didn't keep his...wife by his side. It must have been better for him. His immunity against the disease would have been ensured then. I think, and Shinrei disagrees with me on the point, that she must have escaped.'

Shinrei spoke up, 'I do not think that the Former Aka No Ou would be so careless so as to let such a…prized possession disappear right under his nose. I think she must have died or something terrible befell her for we can find absolutely no trace of her.'

Akari opened her mouth to answer hotly but Kyo held up a hand, 'I think Akari is right' ('I am?' asked Akari pleasantly surprised).

'What all of you were forgetting is that both that bastard and his whore (Sakuya winced and Kyoshiro looked annoyed) were battle dolls. The only difference in them was that the _he_ had the disease but she did not. So, doesn't it makes sense, you idiots, that she must have been stronger than him?' asked Kyo, his eyes shining with a light that many had forgotten.

Akari gasped and smacked her forehead.

'Yes!' Shinrei said, actually surprised, 'How could I have forgotten that?' he frowned. 'You are right Onimo No Kyo! She was a battle doll of the old and that too one without the disease! She could not have died so easily! We will immediately start looking for her.' He bowed an excused himself.

There was a short silence as he left, broken by Shihohodou.

'So Akari-san, what _do_ we know about this mysterious woman?' She asked quietly.

'Oh well, not much really Shihohodou-san,' Akari said happily, 'we asked Rourou and all she remembers is a green-eyed woman who used to take care of her and who would sing lullabies to her, when she was very small.' Immediately she bit her tongue, and glanced at Kyo awkwardly.

All the enthusiasm had gone out of his eyes, which had narrowed to slits as he glanced unseeingly at them, remembering another green-eyed girl who had come into his life.

**_**

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**Hey Readers! This is my first SDK story! Please read and review! Thanx!**


	2. Two

**2.**

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

Yuya glanced up from the tattered piece of paper she held in her hands. Although she had read the words written on them so many times, that she felt as if the lines had been burnt inside her eyelids, she checked them yet again.

This is the right address.

_No! It cannot be!_

This is the right address.

_There has been a mistake._

This is the right address.

_I must have been a fool to do this. _

She groaned inwardly as she slid against the iron grilles of a huge golden gate.

_I must have been a fool._

How many times had she thought that? A hundred? Thousand? Million?

She honestly didn't know. For the past two years, since she had left Japan, every day had been full of uncertainty for her. When Kyo had returned three years after _the_ battle, Yuya thought all life couldn't have been better. Kyo had decided to go back to where he came from: the Mibu. Yuya would have happily followed him, like always, but something held her back. What had Kyo said three years ago?

_There's something all of you need to do._

Yes, that was what he had said. _But had she, Yuya Shiina done anything? Anything for herself? Was she really ready to settle down and live forever as the consort-_ahem_-servant of the new ruler of the Mibu?_

The answer was clearly no. Her life as a bounty hunter had begun to seem pointless to her. She almost cried at nights sometimes, remembering the thrill of traveling with the greatest warriors in the land, of facing danger at each and every turn and overcoming those hurdles.

It was not as though she had not had her share of bad time.

Yuya would have died before admitting to anyone and particularly Kyo, that every now and then, she would wake up in the middle of the night, shaking in fear and sweating, before she realized that she was not in the middle of the battle field watching her brother and the man she loved the most, fight each other, but in the room she had rented at some cheap inn.

So, Yuya spent a day or two hanging around with Kyo before parting from him and telling him she needed to get some things from her old home, before she could come with him to the Mibu. She remembered their last meeting so clearly.

" '_Don't be a fool. You know you'll get in trouble if I leave you. If you want to visit your home, then I'll come with you. We'll go there together before surprising those bastards who think they have got good riddance of us back in the Mibu hide-hole.' Kyo towered above her as they stood in the shade of the tree where Yuya had once caught Mibu Kyoshiro._

_'Kyo, for the past three years I've been traveling around as usual without you to irritate me. And nothing has happened to me till now. I can take care of myself, contrary to what everyone thinks, you know. I'll be completely fine.' she said not quite meeting his eye._

_'...You sure Dog-face?' He asked roughly shaking her a little._

_'Yeah, damn right I am! And watch your mouth! I won't tolerate any of your-'_

_Kyo didn't let her finish. Clutching her around the waist he pulled her to him-_

'_Ky0-?'_

_-and kissed her full on the lips._

This is not-

_It was moments before Yuya could finally comprehend what was happening. And when she did, she kissed him back, one hand curving over his back._

_The kiss lasted for as long as it took time for the first drops to turn into a full fledged rainstorm._

_'Kyo-'_

_'Shhh-'_

_'Kyo-'_

_'It's been hard. It's been hard for me to realize what you meant to me...' Kyo whispered into her hair as he embraced her. Yuya stiffened. She had never heard Kyo talk about his feelings._

_'All those time, you could have died...I was so afraid.'_

_Yuya's eyes widened in shock. Demon Eyes Kyo, afraid?_

_'So afraid, that I kept blaming you for being a burden and not...not letting anyone know...not even myself.' he said slowly, hesitatingly. 'I was a demon. Maybe I still am. Can...can you...'_

_'Shut up!'_

_Kyo looked up in surprise. The rain had brought her hair down and not it hung lank, in front of her face, hiding her eyes._

_'Shut up Kyo! What are you talking about?' Suddenly Yuya knew she did not want to hear this. 'You don't need to apologize.'_

_'No, I-'_

_She looked up at him and he was astounded to see that she was smiling all over._

_'Everyone makes mistakes, idiot. What do you think everyone will think when they hear that the great Onimo No Kyo was getting all senti, huh? I can just imagine Tora and Bon-chan and the others' faces. It won't really do much for the macho image will it?'_

_Kyo looked dumbfounded for a moment and then slowly, an unwilling almost-a-little-guilty smile spread across his face. 'You wouldn't dare.'_

_'Watch me.' she replied dead serious. _

_'Bitch.'_

_'Bastard.'_

_Laughing suddenly she pulled away from him, 'Go back to the Mibu, Kyo. They need you. I'll find you. I promise.'_

_'Well, come quickly Dog-face,' he growled menacingly, his crimson-eyes dancing in the rain, 'I really don't think anyone can replace you as the servant No.1!'_

_Smiling, she waved back to him as she disappeared round the curve of trees._

_Kyo's smile faltered a little. Was is just the rain, or were there tears running down Yuya's face? "_

___

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

Yuya opened an eye and looked blearily at the huge mansion that rose up in front of her.

She had to know if this was the place or not. And for that, she had to go inside the gate.

Sighing, she pulled at the doorbell and waited for the onslaught.

-

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-

[When she had left Kyo, two years ago, at that glade in the woods, Yuya had no idea why she wanted to go back to her old house. Going back to her home was like traveling back in time. Finally, she arrived there.

On reaching the house, she just stood quietly, watching it from afar, trying to make the moments last before she would have to break the memory.

'It's Yuya, isn't it?' a tiny voice cracked.

Whirling around, one hand almost on her three-barreled gun, Yuya found herself...well not face-to-face, waist-to-face with an old crone, bent with age.

'Yes...I am Yuya. And you are-?'

'Humph, how easily do the young forget us? I am your neighbor, don't you remember me Pigtails?'

And as if in a burst of recollection, Yuya realized that it was indeed the woman who had lived next door, though of course she had not been so old then, merely batty.

'Well, auntie, nice to meet you after such a long time.' she said happily.

'How tall you have grown Pigtails! Gone is the time when I could measure you with my hands. We missed your family after you moved out. Your brother was a very nice young man, you know. Yes, very nice indeed.' she mumbled to herself.

'He was not my brother, auntie.' Yuya said quietly, walking away, 'Well, not my real brother, anyway.'

The old woman fixed her with a beady eye, 'Oh, so you know then?'

Yuya doubled back in shock, 'You knew?! You knew that I was-'

'Of course, dear. Nozomu never hid anything from me. And it doesn't take a genius to see that you were not related by blood.' she said gently.

Yuya gaped. Had she known that Nozomu was from the Mibu Clan? What else did the old woman know?

'Well, I was hoping to find out about my real family, auntie. You wouldn't know anything about them would you?' said Yuya, her voice suppressed with emotion.

At last she had said it. She had said aloud the idea that had formed in her mind so long ago and taken shape during the past few days.

She had almost given up hope when the old woman didn't reply for a long time when,

'Do you mean you want to know about that weird woman?'

A small frail looking woman had come out of the house next to theirs and was wringing freshly washed clothes.

'What weird woman?' Yuya asked confused. 'And who are you?'

'My name is Mitsuki.' She said extending a hand. 'I am her grand daughter, though I am sure she does not remember it.' she murmured under her breath, indicating towards the old woman, who appeared to have fallen asleep, where she was standing.

'When your brother...died and you went away, Yuya-san, she told us about a strange woman who had come with Nozomu-sama when he had brought you here for the first time. He introduced her to us as your mother.'

Wave after wave of shock coursed through her body as thoughts flashed through her mind.

_He said he had picked from the street!_

Well, he also said he was your real brother.

_He never told me he knew my real family!_

Obviously, you would have gone running to them when you'd got to know the truth.

_He meant to keep me safe. He did this to protect me from the truth._

And look what happened to him. And look what happened to _you!_

'Mitsuki-san,' Yuya began hesitatingly, 'Thank you for telling me this. I really appreciate this'

'Oh, don't mention it.' She said surprised. 'And don't be alarmed. It wasn't as if your mother was strange-looking or something,' she said, mistaking Yuya's expression, 'in fact, grandmother told us that she was a very beautiful woman, with eyes as just like yours. The only thing out of place was her clothes. She wore quite an outlandish attire, which quite scandalized grandma it seems.' She smiled kindly at the girl.

The old woman seemed to have awoken from her sleep.

'Honestly, we'd be quite pleased Yuya dear, if you move back into the house.' She croaked.

Yuya cracked a wry smile. 'I am sorry, auntie. I have a lot of things to do. And I don't think I'll be able to live here for a very long time.'

After that Yuya had got to some serious work. Dividing everything in the house in three piles: that which could be sold like the sparse furniture, clothing, vessels etc; that which could not be sold and she had decided to donate it to the local orphanage; and finally that which was too precious to be given away and which she could not afford to carry with her.

It took her almost a week to dispose of all the items in the first two groups and she made a lot of money on those. At any other time, she would have been happy to realize this, but now, there was a bitter taste in her mouth and she went about her work with an alarming indifference, even as her purse became heavier and heavier.

At last, only her bigger then before backpack, her favorite dress, the one that was torn, where Kyoshiro had slashed her and some of Nozomu's prized personal belongings were left.

Carefully she opened the last bundle. This was where she had found the three-barreled gun all those years ago.

Now she rummaged among the other contents: a kimono that looked like Sakuya's, a few short knives which she gratefully pocketed, a tightly bound scroll. Frowning, she unfurled the scroll and nearly stopped breathing.

It was a painting.

But what a painting it was! It was as if the very people of the painting had come to life and she was looking through a window into another world.

A man with dark yellow hair (just like mine, she thought unconsciously) and sparkling blue eyes, stood proudly beside a chair, where a beautiful woman in a sort of a large kimono-like gown sat holding a baby. Both the baby and the woman had deep emerald eyes and it was at that moment, that Yuya realized that she was looking at her family for the first time. Behind them, there was a window and outside it everything looked white. With another jolt of surprise she realized it was the fabled snow, which they'd heard so much about.

She gazed at the picture for a long time as if the force of gaze could bring her mother and father alive out of the painting.

Both her parents were dressed in, as Mitsuki had put it, 'strange' clothes. The upper part of her mother's dress hugged her bodice, detailing every gorgeous curve and showing off a narrow waist, while the lower part blossomed out unnecessarily all around her.

_My mother._

Something deep within her stirred, as previously dormant emotions came alive at the single word.

Frowning, she wiped off a tear. _Why the hell am I behaving like this? I don't even know where to find them. Heck, I don't even know if they are alive or not! This is just a stupid painting._

She looked at the painting again.

Her father's left hand curved over his belt, holding, in a beautiful leather holster, a superb-

_My three barreled gun!_ Yuya realized excitedly. _So, this was my father's gun. Well, imagine that! _

Turning the scroll over, she spied something that looked like writing. Yes! It was her brother's writing! She could recognize his neat thin style anywhere.

Narrowing her eyes and holding the scroll against the last rays of sunlight, she was able to make out some words. Words she had never heard and without doubt that were in some other language.

Yuya laboriously copied down the words on a piece of paper and took them to the local librarian, who had been a great traveler in his time.

'Those are in englize.' The old man said at first glance. 'In fact they appear to be the address of some enlglize house.'

'And where do these...englize live?' She asked confused.

Muttering darkly about busybodies, the librarian took out a map and showed her where the Kingdom of Britain was.

Gulping down the panic that was rising in her, she asked, 'And you say, that tiny strip of land is Japan and _this_ island is the Kingdom of Britain?'

'Yes! I have traveled around the world and this is the very map that helped me! It is as true as you and me! Indeed, it is right to the last detail' the librarian said stubbornly.

She absent-mindedly traced her finger across the map.

'But if you want to go Britain, then you go east not west!' the harsh voice of the librarian pulled her out of her reverie.

'What? East?'

'Yes sir, if you go east, then you come to Britain faster you see. You just have to cross the great mighty oceans, not all these continents! The world is round you see!'

'And your balls are made of gold!'

Nevertheless Yuya bought the map.

She delivered all Nozomu's things to Kyoshiro's house in the dead of the night and hurried to the nearest port city, with nothing but her backpack and her ever-trusty gun.

The address was where her parents were. The address was where she'd find all her answers. She'd go there, even if it meant crossing half the world to do so].

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**_Next chapter coming soon!_**


	3. Three

**3.**

" '_Kyo!'_

_The fair-haired girl hurried to catch up with the man in the black kimono with the sigh of yin-yang on the back. _

_It was evening. The trees on either side of the road, whispered in the soft breeze and birds were returning to their nests. First stars of the clear summer night twinkled down mischievously._

'_Kyo! Wait up!' she called again, annoyance apparent in her voice, as she ran after him. The man stopped suddenly, causing the girl to bump into him. _

'_Oof!' She tripped backwards and fell back, tearing her kimono. _

'_Watch it, Dog-face.' He sneered, his voice brimming with malevolence and amusement. 'Why don't you find someone else to tag along tonight? I am quite tired of your babbling.' Without turning back, he began walking away, leaving the fallen girl behind, seething in anger._

'_Why?' she whispered unexpectedly._

_This time he stopped, though he did not turn around._

'_Why do you act like this Kyo? What have I done to deserve such a harsh treatment?' she shouted now, her voice becoming higher with each word. _

_She clutched at the stray leaves on the ground, her long tresses hiding her eyes. All the birds had stopped chirping now._

'_All of us are your companions and we mean you no harm, yet you act like we don't mean any- like we're shit. You never listen! You never care! I am so tired of you looking down on us! Why are you so cruel? Why can't-'_

_Kyo whirled around in a flash, drawing his sword at the same time and slashed the arm with the dagger that had appeared out of nowhere, behind Yuya. Blood spurted on Yuya as she opened her mouth to scream, but was cut short when Demon Eyes Kyo grabbed her and bodily threw her in the bushes, growling at her to stay there._

_A few minutes later, when he had ripped of every head of the group of bandits that had been stupid enough to attack them, he dragged her back onto the road like she was a thing and not another human being._

_By the time, the others in their group had caught up._

'_Wow! What happened, Kyo-san?' The Red Tiger asked, nonplussed, stopping when he saw murder in Kyo's eyes._

_Without sparing him a glance, Kyo sneered at Yuya, 'Don't lecture me woman! Weaklings like you are not meant to survive! It is only my mercy that you've lived until now! You are nothing but an insignificant slave to me and I can behave whichever way I want to with the likes of filth like you! _

_Besides, no one forced you to follow me! If you do not like it, then we'll trade you in the next market for some genuine woman, who knows her place, Dog-face!' He hurled her among the dead, and moved on without a backward glance._

_Yuya's eyes filled with tears. "_

___

**Present Day,**

**The Mibu Forests,**

**Japan**

**_**

Kyo wandered aimlessly through the forest.

If only they could find that damned woman! All the Mibu clan would be saved. It gave him shivers to realize that there was woman out there who was stronger than Mibu Kyouchirou, whom he had barely managed to destroy.

If only they could find her...

_'I'll find you, Kyo. I promise.'_

But Yuya didn't come.

_'I'll find you.'_

Where are you Dog-face? Are you angry?

_'I promise.'_

Are you alright? Are you well? Why haven't you come back, dammit!

_'I'll find you.'_

I'll wait for you. Wherever you are, I know you'll come back. I believe in you just like you believed in me. But don't test my patience woman! Whatever others may say, I know you are not…you're not-

_'I promise.'_

___

___

___

[At the port city two years ago, Yuya had met a strange acquaintance.

'Kyo's woman?'

Yuya started when someone poked her in the ribs.

'Huh?' she mumbled.

'You are Kyo's woman right? I am not sure, but I think you might be. She too had long dirty yellow hair.' There was a quizzical note in the flat monotone. Yuya turned, and found herself looking at the bright yellow haired, lemon colored eyes, expressionless face of Hotaru, one of the Sheishtein.

He tilted his head at an angle; his eyes narrowed down in concentration and leaned closer. 'Yes, you are Kyo's woman after all; I see they are not big, just like he says.' He stated flatly, returning his attention back to the lollipop he was sucking.

'What-?!' she blabbered, turning red, 'Oh never mind! And by the way, I am Yuya Shiina, Hotaru, as you should have remembered by now, considering the fact that we've been through such a lot together lately-'

'Really? That's funny. I don't remember you that much.' Hotaru said, with genuine surprise, which was short lived as he became more interested in following the progress of a centipede, which he had just spotted on the ground.

'-and I am NOT Kyo's woman!' she finished in a high pitched voice. _Why the hell was she wasting her time with him?_

Miraculously, Hotaru answered back almost immediately (Yuya had never shared more than a few sentences with him till now, as he was simply too weird to talk to, so she was a little surprised that he had actually listened to her).

'But I thought, you said you are Shiina Yuya?'

Yuya gritted her teeth and said, 'Yes! I am Yuya Shiina.'

'But you are not Kyo's woman?'

'No, I am no-'

'But I though Yuya Shiina was Kyo's woman?'

'Forget it Hotaru.' She sighed. 'I have to go.' She said and walked away. Two hours later she was still haggling with the corrupt captain of a ship about the price of a ticket.

'Look mister, I am not asking you to ferry me around the world and back here okay? I just want to get to the continent, to China!' she yelled at the yellow-teethed man.

'Sorry lady, we go ter China only, that's true, but you wanna tag along, you do it at mine price and not a yen less.' he said grinning crookedly and leering at her fingering his dyed-red goatee. His breath stank of sake.

'Why that's-' she began outrageously.

'You are going to China?' a voice cut in.

'Huh?' Yuya asked, surprised to see Hotaru sitting beside her sucking his lollipop and not a care in the world.

'Ye-yes...' she stammered.

'I can get you an almost free ticket.' he said matter-of-fact.

'What!?' she gaped. 'Really? How?'

Hotaru took his time in answering, 'I am going there too. We can go together. It would reduce the cost of a single ticket.'

Yuya was too shocked to say anything but accept the offer. The captain of the ship was not pleased. He shuffled back grumbling about busy-bodies and client-stealers.

That night, before the moon peeked out, they boarded a small vessel for China and for the rest of her journey till she reached Kingdom of Britain, Hotaru never left her side or asked her any questions.

From China, they had traveled to Indostan. Never before in her life had Yuya wished she could stay at a place for some more time. There was so much to see, to smell, to hear; colors, splashed so brightly, it almost hurt your eyes to see them, sweet melancholy lilting music, exotic spices and foreign dishes. Traveling through the fertile plains with Hotaru, who picked up fights like others people picked at their food, had been a totally – Yuya struggled to appreciate –wacky journey. Yes, there was no other word for it. Later, they had boarded a ship from the port of Bombaye, which would take them through the Arabian ocean and reached the southern tip of Afrika.

Yuya remembered the dark nights of disguise and hiding in the nearby forest, as Hotaru went to locate a ship at the harbour, which would take them to their destination. She was quite afraid of the dark skinned local people, but even more of all the white skinners who treated them so inhumanely, that many a time she had to stop herself from trying to help them, by reminding herself that it was none of her business and she had something she needed to do, somewhere she needed to go.

The jungles too, had been like nothing she had experienced before. Back in Japan, she had assumed that no forest could inspire dread in her again after passing through the Aokigahara, but this, _this_ was hell.

She had been hungry, tired and mosquito-bitten as she sat on the edge of the woods one day when she felt someone calling her name. Startled she followed the voice deep in the jungle, even though Hotaru had told her in a rather vague way that it would be risky for them to go there, forget alone. By nightfall, she was in a nightmare. She was sure something was following her and even as she ran through the thick undergrowth, an unconscious part of her mind screamed that she was completely lost. When the _thing_ that was following her was almost upon her a dark figure dropped between them and with one flick of his wrist slashed the thing apart. _Kyo?_ She had whispered. But of course it was Hotaru. He was more interested in examining the beast-man's corpse to listen to Yuya's apologies for getting herself in trouble but as they returned, he turned and looked at her and said, 'You shouldn't have left my side.' With that he ran back into the forest and left her standing on the edge of the clearing.

Bruised and confused about everything, she had made herself a sort of bed of leaves and spare clothes and fallen asleep the moment she closed her eyes, her gun lying next to her.

In the morning Hotaru had returned, dirty, battered with his hair full of twigs. 'I found more of them.' He said happily, before showing her the single teeth he had taken from each of them. They were seventeen.

They finally managed to locate a slavers ship that they could sneak into by bribing one of the crewmen and that night they set sail from the land of Afrika.

Saying completely funny things with a straight face or doing weird things at the oddest of times, Hotaru had been a very good companion. The most amazing thing was that he was completely unpredictable. One day, he would sit on a lone mast-pole not talking to any of the ship mates with whom he had become good friends or even Yuya. At other times, he wouldn't leave her side, saying the most outrageous things in his flat monotone or asking her the most shocking things like whether it was true that she had borne seven children with Kyo or trying to get her interested in the patterns the waves were making behind their ship. After months of traveling, they had finally reached Britain.

Yuya had immediately begun inquiring for the address. Someone had told her that it was the name of a street in the city of Londinium and so she had traveled through the countryside until she reached the heart of the country. Hotaru had gone along with her as usual. He would disappear for a while, when he sought out an opponent or found some interesting new curio, but he would always be back before sundown]

_

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

A red haired man, in the traditional uniform of the guards, came walking up the gravel path to the golden gates.

'Who are you?' he barked at the girl in tattered clothes, who stood glued to the spot, grasping a dirty portion of parchment.

Although she had learnt English now, it still took a little time for Yuya to understand what he was saying.

'I am...my name is Yuya Shiina (weird name, thought the guard suspiciously). I need to meet the lady of the house.'

The guard snorted and began walking back towards the house muttering about beggars.

'Wait!' called Yuya desperately. 'Just tell her...tell her that a friend from Japan is here!'

The man looked back at her.

'You don't look like you're Japanese (matter of fact, I don't even know what a Japanese looks like).'

'I know but-'

'Scoot off Missy, the Lady got no time for beggars.'

With that and a last disgusting glance at the girl he walked away.

_

_

_

Disgruntled Yuya walked back to the hovel she was forced to call her home, clasping a handkerchief to her mouth. It was absolutely next to the river Thames and so the air reeked of rotten garbage and urine and decay.

Knocking on the door she said in a whisper, for it was freezing outside, 'It's me.'

The door was opened almost immediately.

'Oh, you!'

'Hi Hotaru.' she said wryly as she closed the door behind her.

'How was the-' Hotaru began asking but forgot what he was talking about and remained content to take her coat.

'I found the house.'

'...Good.' he said expressionlessly. He went back to cleaning his sword. The seconds of silence stretched into minutes.

'But they won't let me in!' burst in Yuya, some of her anger coming out. 'I mean, why would they? I look like a damn beggar! We don't have much money left! I need new clothes and you need shoes (Hotaru frowned down at his feet, which were almost sticking out of his boots). And we can't keep on living in this rat-hole for much longer. The furnace is blocked and they say the real winter hasn't even arrived yet. And prices of food are so high-'

Hotaru got up suddenly, leaned over and touched her cheek.

'Do you know your tears have frozen on your face?' he asked.

'Wha-?' Yuya blustered, aware of a dull flush creeping on her face as she pulled back.

_Had she been crying?_

'And now you are turning red as well.' Hotaru cocked his head. 'Are you feeling all right?'

Yuya caught hold of his shoulders, 'Have you been listening to what I have been saying Hotaru!? We have no money! I can't get in the house! I can't meet my...my parents.' she began sobbing suddenly, the fear, anger, uncertainty of the past two years coming out finally. Before she knew what was happening, Hotaru was hugging her, his surprisingly warm body close to hers.

Yuya's sobs stifled in shock.

_Hotaru_.

'You have become sadder as we have come to this place. You were happier back in China and Indo-Indo....'

'Indostan!'

'Yes, that place. Even in that jungle country ('Afrika! Hotaru!'), you were more lively then here.' he said. 'Let's go back; I do not like this place. All this fog and cold is bad for me. My technique is not working properly. The moment I call up fire, it fizzles out. How will I defeat Kyo if I am so weak?'

Yuya looked up into his smooth, blank face. 'I can't Hotaru.' she said slowly and clearly, 'I have got to find my parents. I have to know my past. I have to meet my family. I need to. That is why I came here.'

Hotaru looked surprised and Yuya fancied she saw a momentary flash of pain in his eyes. 'Well then I guess, I have to-'

Yuya's screwed up her eyes. This is it; she thought dully, this is where he would tell me he is leaving.

'-help you get into that house before we can go back.'

Yuya opened her eyes. 'What?'

'I guess I have to help you-'

'Really?' she asked quietly. Perplexed, Hotaru nodded.

'Oh! Thank you!' she hugged him so robustly that he lost his balance and both of them fell down. _My_, she thought, _Hotaru has really grown taller these last two years_.

_And why didn't I even notice before how good looking that fool could be?_ She thought guiltily as she pulled herself up and went about making some tea.

'And by the way, ' she said over her shoulder to Hotaru, who was still sitting on the ground as if nothing had happened, 'you have become a lot stronger then you were before in Japan.'

Hotaru's face broke into a dazzling elfin smile.

-

-

-

_**Read! Review! Please!**_


	4. Four

**4.**

**Present Day,**

**The Mibu Castle Grounds,**

**Japan**

**_**

'Oh! Are you angry with Shinrei-san and Akari-san for not telling you about the disease before mentioning it in the council, Yuan-san? Is that why you are so subdued?' asked Kyoshiro, a little puzzled.

They were walking in the grounds surrounding the citadel of the Mibu. A meeting of the elders had just broken up after they'd finished discussing all the details about the nature, extent and dexterity of the search they were about to begin.

'Angry?' Yuan asked amused, 'No way! I could never find anything to do in that lab of theirs right from the very beginning!' he chuckled. 'They would push me out because I was making too much noise, or not doing something productive or something silly like that! No, I totally agree that the research was totally their issue, but the thing that worries me...' He became serious again, '…is this wild-goose chase that is going to start.'

Kyoshiro looked befuddled, 'What do you mean Yuan-san?'

Yuan sighed before continuing, his mouth set in a harsh straight line, 'Think Kyoshiro-san, how are going to find a woman, whom we know nothing about? No name, no description; we don't even know if such a woman exists or not! Even if she does exist, then where are we going to search for her? Oh wait! I know!' he said with a hint of irony, 'How about the entire country? Or maybe, she was so freaked out with that Kyouchirou bastard she left Japan altogether!' Yuan gave a snort of anger and punched through a tree.

His hand came out through the other side, splintering the bark.

Kyoshiro looked on miserably.

'I want to protect my family Kyoshiro-san, just like you want to protect Sakuya-san and Tokito, Akira (though she'd rather die then admit that).' Yuan said when he had calmed down. 'But I can't do anything! I can just wait and watch as the disease will take them one by one, just as it will destroy us all.

But now, Shinrei and Akari-san have given me hope. They have given us all hope. And I don't want to lose that again. I trust them, but I don't see any way we can find this mystery woman; this hope is such a fragile thing, Kyoshiro-san, I don't know when it can break.'

Kyoshiro didn't know what to say. Kyo had saved him from disappearing once, but could he do it again? And what about the others? The entire Mibu Clan was infected with the disease. Demon Eyes Kyo couldn't save them all.

He suddenly realized something was bothering him.

'Yuan-san?' he asked. 'Why didn't Fubuki-sama and Hshigi-sama reach this conclusion sooner? They had been working on curing the Mibu for along time. Yet, they never realized Aka-chan's involvement. And in only five years, Shinrei-san and Akari-san have already discovered the source of the disease and the person who might have the true antidote.'

Yuan took his time in replying, 'All this information has come to light now, only because, Fubuki-sama and Hshigi did not have access to the secret library of the Former Aka No Ou. It seems he was hiding all the records of the doings of the True Clan and the Project Holy Destruction.' Yuan contemplated.

Seeing Kyoshiro's stunned face Yuan replied drolly in a gloomy voice, 'Shinrei says that Rourou could not possibly have stopped his disease. I'm guessing that once his wife escaped, Kyouchirou had no desire to reveal her existence to anyone, or even try to cure the Mibu anymore by enlightening the elders about Rourou's condition. If he could not live, then there was no reason, according to him, that others should even have a chance of survival. So he let the Mibu suffer.'

Kyoshiro shuddered in the warm morning. _What could drive a man to such evil?_ He wondered. He had killed more than his share of men but now he had vowed never to lift a sword again, save for protecting his loved ones_. Life was such a precious thing. How could the Former Aka No Ou, the man who was once loved and respected by everyone, decide to stake so many lives for fulfilling his own selfishness and greed for power?_

Kyoshiro said, 'Maybe Shinrei-san will find something in that library of his. Something you know, like an image of her, a long-forgotten work of art that Mibu Kyouchirou has overlooked or something that will give us an idea to the extent of her beauty or something!'

Yuan rolled his eyes. 'If pigs could fly.'

'Well anyway,' Kyoshiro said smiling and pulling ahead of him, 'Whatever happens, we'll try our hardest. Even if it means trying to find a nameless, faceless, goddess of a woman and persuading her to help us!'

'More like begging her to help us,' Yuan said thoughtfully, 'Kyo barely survived Kyouchirou, and this lady supposed to be stronger then him. How do you think Kyo's gonna handle her.'

'Not to mention the fact that she's a lady.' Kyoshiro said cheekily.

'Yeah, well, we'll send our secret weapon!' Yuan said darkly strutting ahead.

'What secret weapon?' Kyoshiro trailed behind him.

'Akari-san!'

'Yeah, Akari-san'll kick her ass!'

'Hey, have you ever seen Akari-san fight a woman? I mean I've seen her kick many male asses, but…'

'Hmm, I know what you mean, Yuan-san, I'll definitely put up the question to her next time I meet her, of course from your side (I know how shy you can be!).'

'_What?! Do you want to get me killed or something?_ Even trees have ears…you might never know where that weird drag-queen many be hiding.' Yuan whispered conspirately to Kyoshiro.

'What are you two bitching about?'

A slender girl dropped in front of them, her short blonde wind-blown hair looking striking in the sunlight, the usual cynical expression on her face.

'Tokito! Oh, nothing, nothing! We were just talking about…about the weather.' Kyoshiro said, laughing nervously.

'Yes yes!' Yuan nodded breaking into a sweat and giving a boom of supposed-to-be-confident-betraying- edginess laugh.

Narrowing her eyes, Tokito frowned, 'Oh bother! I only heard till the weird drag-queen part. Wonder what Akari-san'll say about that.'

'_Tokito!'_

She gave them fifteen minutes in which they begged her and threatened her meekly not to open her mouth, before saying matter-of-factly.

'Yeah, well, whatever. Anyway, Demon Eyes sent me to tell you that you are to meet him in ten minutes.'

'-and so don't please don't tell Akari-what?' Yuan stopped abruptly, 'Meet Kyo? In ten minutes?'

'Yes,' she grinned. 'Something came up while you were loitering here and he decided he wanted another Council meeting.'

'_Baka!' _

Yuan sprinted off towards the castle, shouting back, 'I'll see you later Kyoshiro-san, 'coz I really have to rush now if I don't wanna lose my job. …_Damn you Tokito_!' he added as an afterthought.

Kyoshiro gawked after him.

'Hey! Don't leave me hear!' he said and rushed after him.

Tokito smiled impishly, shaking her head. 'Fools.'

Then she began sauntering towards the castle lazily, timing her walk so that she'd reach it exactly for the Council meeting, which was to begin half-an-hour later.

_

**Present Day,  
**

**The Mibu Castle,**

**Japan**

**_**

'And stay OUT!' Kyo snarled.

_Why? Why did he have to put with such fools?_

He had specifically ordered that he was _not_ to be bothered for anything during the hour by anyone.

And that meant _everyone._ For _anything._

And for all his shouting and roaring, he might have well been singing a song. Just as that white-haired leader of the brats, Yuan, apologized his way out, that son of a bastard Kyoshiro had bumped himself in, panting, 'I'm sorry, can I come in?'

What had followed was a rare display of true Demon Red Eyes that left Kyoshiro shaking and he left the same way he had come, bearing in mind the fact that he might bring Sakuya some sadness because of his untimely death, if he did not do so quickly.

'Come out, woman.' Kyo said as his rage cooled down.

From behind one of the many mighty pillars that supported the huge Mibu stronghold, a woman glided out, towards Kyo. Her uneven middle-length hair was tied loosely and she wore a most revealing dress, with half of her chest visible, in the diffused light of the hall.

'Kyo-san.' The words rolled off her tongue deliciously.

'Okuni.' He smirked. 'That was quick thinking. I never knew you could move that fast.'

Smiling flirtatiously, she crooned. 'You don't know half the things we women are capable of, Onimo No Kyo.'

'Well, have you brought me anything this time?' he asked.

'Ah, why come so quickly to business, Kyo? Aren't you happy that I'm here?' she asked in a baby voice that betrayed mock-hurt, batting her eye lashes.

'I don't pay you troves of treasure to give me company Okuni. I have many more women to enjoy.'

'Really, my lord? But according to my information, (Oh yes! I have informants here in the Mibu Castle as well!) you haven't so much as touched another woman since-'

Okuni stopped as the cold steel of Tenro touched her throat.

'I wouldn't mind touching a woman right now Okuni, just give me reason, and I swear I'll-'

'Oh well, I won't give you the latest news then, Kyo.' Okuni smirked unperturbed.

'Which is?'

'Nothing special really, just that I found –'

Kyo's heart skipped a beat.

'–her.'

'Found whom, woman?!' he tried to snarl, unsuccessfully.

'Your mother.' She said rolling her eyes.

'What –?'

'I mean, when are you going to realize that people actually _know_ you love Shiina Yuya, Kyo?'

Kyo didn't say anything but his gaze darkened.

'Of course I found Yuya. That was the real reason you called me, didn't you Kyo? For getting information about _her_?' Okuni scoffed, 'you can't anything from Okuni, Kyo.'

'Yeah, whatever, so where _is_ she? Getting shacked up somewhere?' he asked casually, though his heart thudded so loudly, he was surprised Okuni could not hear it.

Or maybe she could; she smiled.

'Look at you Kyo! Acting like we're talking about the weather! So calm and uninterested. Maybe I won't tell you after all –' this time Okuni actually had to dodge as the Tenro slashed through the air.

'Ooh, crossed a line, have I? Well, I think I'll just tell you after all. But let me tell you this, I'm doing this just because I love you, Kyo and not because you're paying me (though all that gold is a good change too!).'

'Spit –it –out –woman!'

'Rude as ever I see.'

'Okuni fu –'

'_Okay! Okay! Hold your balls_! She is in the Kingdom of Britain.'

Kyo's confusion was not lost upon Okuni as she said, 'Before you snap and snarl that there no place like that, let me assure you, there _is_. And of course you haven't heard about it Kyo. It's half way across the world (yes, that's how far my network stretches! Pretty good even for an elite informer like me!).'

_

_

_

'What is happening inside there? Let me hear now, it's my turn!' Yuan demanded angrily as Kyoshiro mumbled something about waiting just a second and went on pressing his ear to the keyhole.

'There comes Akari.' Yuan said resignedly, as a 'woman' in a flower pink kimono came rushing around the corner.

'Aiieee! Has the meeting started?! Tokito just told me!' she screamed and was immediately shushed by the two men.

'Shut your trap Akari! Whatever Tokito said is bullsh –' Akari looked affronted as Yuan updated her.

'So, Okuni is here and Kyo doesn't want anyone to know, huh?' she said angrily, red blotches covering her cheeks, 'what he sees in that woman, I really don't know!'

'He wants her for the information she brings you idiot!' Yuan whispered furiously.

'Hey, can you two please keep it down? I'm trying to listen here, people!' Kyoshiro said annoyed.

'Oh, yeah, that reminds me,' Yuan said, 'get out of the way Kyoshiro, it's my turn now!'

'No way! You had your turn!'

'Hey! Both of you have had your turns! I just came here. Let _me _listen!'

'Don't push me!'

'Oh, yeah?'

'You don't push me!'

'Yeah!'

'Take that!'

'Oof!'

_

_

_

'So, let me get this straight.' Kyo said, 'Akira is back in the country. He told _you_ that he met Hotaru in China. When he asked him where he was headed off to, Hotaru said that _he_ was off to find a vessel for some godamn jungle country, so that he can board a ship from there to some tiny island called Britain?'

'That's absolutely right!'

'And you think Dog-face is with him because you talked to some old wino, who saw a blonde with Hotaru?'

'That's the truth.' Okuni said satisfied.

'Hahaha! Gyaah!' Kyo burst laughing out, 'You are loosing your touch Okuni. Relying on sources like Hotaru! That's hilarious!' he doubled back in mirth.

'Think whatever you want to, Kyo.' Okuni said irritated, 'but I have another reason to believe that Yuya-san is with Hotaru-san.'

'And what might that be?' Kyo asked wiping away a tear.

'Akira said so himself. Yuya-san was not with Hotaru-san when he met with Akira, but her presence, her aura was all around Hotaru-san,' she said silkily, 'Akira cannot see, but his other senses are sharper than anyone's, you know that Kyo. Yuya-san was not with him at the moment, but she was very near and had been very –very near…I mean around Hotaru-san.' She smiled cockily, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

'Well, I must be going Kyo-san, I have much more information to deliver and though I'd love to hang around with you and chat about old times, I simply must rush!' she squealed cheerfully as if nothing had happened and disappeared into the shadows.

_

_

_

Outside the great hall, three pairs of eyes looked at each other in fear and puzzlement.

**_**

**_**

**_**

**_Thanx for reading! Plz review! Next chapter will be in shortly! ^_^_**


	5. Five

**5.**

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

Hotaru entered the rowdy room and paused in doubt.

_Why was he here again?_

Frowning, he squinted around surreptitiously, trying to remember his reason for being in a crammed, dirty tavern.

Large, beefy, red-necked men, in different phases of drunkenness and with a tankard in one hand and a 'painted lady' (as Hotaru secretly called them) in the other, made up the clientele for the most part but here and there, a few darkly cloaked figures, carrying out illicit deals or passing secret tidings broke the monotony of the throng. Nobody seemed to have noticed that a slight, lemon-eyed boy, with flaming hair, who looked as if he fitted in the picture as easily as a pigeon among cats, had entered the pub.

Hotaru gazed at each and every face in genuine curiosity, trying to recognize something or someone that would tell him why he was there.

_Did he know that black haired man who was cheating in his gambling game?_

No.

_That red haired painted lady who looked so invitingly at him?_

No.

_The bartender with the one eye, who was regarding him with open suspicion?_

No.

His eyes settled on a blonde girl, sitting all by herself in one dark corner of the tavern, with a pair of untouched tankards in front of her.

Hotaru cocked his head to one side trying to recollect who she was. For some reason she was scowling at the concoction in front of her as if it had done her a personal wrong.

Hotaru's eyes lighted up. He _knew_ that expression. He _knew_ that person.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"_The girl leaned over the side of the run-down ship, taking in the fresh sea air. Loosening her hair, she smiled widely before turning to him, 'Hotaru-san! We are going to reach China soon! Aren't you excited?'_

'…'

'_Have you been there before? Where do you plan to go after we get there?'_

'…'

_The girl stopped smiling and frowned, 'Well, I had _hoped _that you'd start answering back by now, you know, considering the days we'd spent traveling together.'_

_Hotaru looked up blankly, 'Do you have any sake?'_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_The girl huffed up the hill, sweat pouring down her face. Below them, lush forests sprawled till horizon, echoing with the cries of wild birds, and the sun beat mercilessly down on them._

'_Wait up Hotaru-san!'_

_The boy kept walking as if he'd not heard anything. The girl cursed and caught up with him, 'I said…WAIT FOR ME!'_

_Hotaru stopped abruptly causing the girl to bump into him and pointed upwards, 'Rain.'_

'_Huh?'_

'_Rain. It's going to happen.'_

_The girl looked up at the cloudless sky and scowled, 'I really don't think so Hotaru-san. What makes you say that?'_

_He shrugged and moved on._

_Later, in the evening, the girl sighed in relief and let herself get drenched under the first downpour of the monsoon season. A peaceful expression softened her features._

'_Come out Hotaru-san. It's…wonderful!' she called out to her comrade._

_He didn't move from his place under the tree._

'_C'mon!'_

_The boy tilted his head and stared at her with his large expressionless eyes._

'_I hate water.' He said._

_She frowned."_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Yes,_ Hotaru thought, _I definitely know her. _

_She is the woman who…_

…_broke Kyo._

Hotaru thought he must hate her for it.

After all, Kyo _had_ been the perfect God of War. Merciless, inexplicably powerful, and cruel; Kyo had been everything Hotaru had ever strived for. His days in the Shieshten had been the best days of his life. Traveling with the strongest of the lands, slaughtering all those who dare oppose them and fighting through each and every obstacle had brought out Hotaru's true spirit. No one could defy them, no one could defeat them.

_They_ were the rulers of their own destiny.

But then_, she_ came.

Of course, Kyo had never let it show, that he felt anything for her at all. He insulted her, provoked her, taunted her, excited and tortured her in numerous small ways, always showing how completely worthless he considered her and how he hoped to get rid of her.

But he never did. And she never left; enduring the entire tirade with her hot-heatedness and all her stubbornness.

In the end, Kyo _had_ become stronger. He had become stronger for _her._ To protect her.

But Hotaru knew then, the great Onimo No Kyo was no more. There was only…Kyo.

The girl had won.

The strange thing was that Hotaru no longer hated her.

He had never cared for her. She did not have any great power. She was too loud and bossy. He had never considered her anything much, just another of the weaklings who tagged behind Kyo. The last time he had seen her was in the fateful battle at the Mibu castle. After that he had gone his own way.

And then, one day she had arrived, all alone and doleful, haggling for a ticket to China.

Why had he helped her in the first place?

_The Captain said there was a discount for traveling couples. Of course he did not tell her _that_._

Why had he stuck with her for so long then?

_She was..._Hotaru paused for a second_…going places. He was going to t hose places too. Mere chance. Coincidence._ He shrugged.

Why did he stay with her throughout the time?

_She…attracted trouble, wherever she went. And where there was trouble, there would have surely been someone to fight with. He wanted to fight more people, stronger people so that he'd become powerful enough to one day match Onimo No Kyo._

And now, why was he helping her now? Was there any reason for him to stay in this depressed place where your breath froze in your lungs and the sun remained hidden?

Hotaru struggled mentally with the idea, which was quite rare for him.

He…_didn't know_. He didn't know why he was helping _her_.

She was _so_ much different than him. Vivacious and ready to express her opinion about anything under the sun, she was talkative and caring and vibrant. Hotaru had never met anything or anyone like her.

Back in Japan, he could not understand why everyone used to be so concerned about her. Maybe it was because she was weak, he had thought, or maybe because she was Kyo's woman.

But now, after sharing so much with her, he thought he understood why everyone around her wanted to shield her. He had been affected as well_, just a little_.

When she was hurt, somewhere in the back of his mind, Hotaru felt a curious sensation, something like unhappiness. He would remain moody for the rest of the day.

When _she_ was unhappy, Hotaru could never feel lively. He didn't know what to do to cheer her up. So he never did anything.

When she laughed, Hotaru wanted to smile too. But of course, he _never_ smiled, except when standing next to his defeated enemy.

When someone hit on her, Hotaru felt like calling up _fire_ and letting it rip apart the man into smithereens.

_No…_a look of pain crossed Hotaru's face…_he could not become so weak! He must not make the mistake Kyo made. He could not. After all, she was Kyo's woman. _

Nothing else.

_She is Kyo's woman…Kyo's woman…Kyo's woman…_Hotaru repeated in his mind frantically_…she is Kyo's woman…she is…_

A man suddenly lumbered across the room and grinning meaningfully, slipped into the seat nest to her. Hotaru stiffened and growled softly_…she is…_

'Yuya.'

_Men. _

Yuya snorted in amusement.

In every country, town, village anywhere in the world, she found that she could survive better with a small motto.

_All…men…are…the…same…i.e., dogs._

By the looks of it, the one who had _dared_ to hit on her just now was a bull dog, big on appearance, small on resistance. Easy.

Smiling mentally, she said quietly, 'I'm sorry, _Sir._ But that seat is already reserved for someone. Why don't you go back to your place over there?'

The man sniggered before leaning forward, his breath hitting her like a brick. 'Didn't know you'd a lover boy, miss, 'cuz who'd be so stupid to let a pretty lady like yerself sit here all alone for the entire evening?' He said cheekily, his eyes sliding up and down her gorgeous figure.

Yuya looked at him through blankly before replying. 'My –friend–is going to meet me here sir. I would really appreciate it if you'd be so kind to remove your presence from my sight.'

The man's eye brows drew close as he regarded the girl balefully. Yuya was aware of how the table behind theirs had gone all quiet.

'Now why don't we enjoy the rest of the night together lady? I am a fair man; let's not waste any more time talking about what both of us know is a lie–'

'A-hem.'

The man whipped around snarling. What he saw did not please him.

A skinny, bright-haired boy, with an unusually blank face, stood quietly, waiting for the man to notice him.

'What do you want lad?' he barked, his eyes narrowing dangerously as the other men moved away to clear a space around the two of them.

Hotaru looked surprised.

'Nothing.'

Whatever the man was expecting, it was clearly not this. Before he could as much as open his mouth, Hotaru had whisked around him and seated himself at the abandoned chair, pulled his tankard, taken a hearty swig and smacked his lips appreciatively.

Roaring, the man lunged forward, 'YOU DARE –' and stopped as a thin crimson line appeared on his forearm. He staggered, blinked and realized that his hand was bleeding.

'How –?'

Hotaru had not moved from where he sat. The man saw a glint of metal disappearing under the boy's robes.

Backing away in anger and fear, he grabbed a chair and hurled it straight through the air at the boy's head. Hotaru turned in a flash, unsheathed his sword once again but before he could as much as move, the chair was blasted in mid-air as three bullets shattered it in quick succession. The bar had gone very, very silent.

Looking back Hotaru cocked his head at the smoking gun in Yuya's hand, and saw her startled expression.

The dazed man scampered away and when Yuya continued to glower, everyone started talking again at once, averting their eyes. Sighing, Yuya settled down, with a somber expression, her mood lifting up even as she presented a picture of weariness outwards.

So much for not attracting attention.

Hotaru slumped down opposite her and began drinking again. The bartender came once and told them that they'd had to pay for the chair.

Yuya looked out from the corner of her eye, her heart still racing. He looked much the same as always.

She had not got over the shock of the previous day when Hotaru had so openly offered to help her, actually talked to her in meaningful sentences, expressing emotions, yet. And here he was now, trying to protect her!

Actually defend her!

What had got into him today?

Since the day she'd left Kyo (Yuya forced herself to remain calm), Yuya had always known that she'd have had to fend for herself. She could no longer look over her shoulder for the slayer of a thousand men to look after her as he had grudgingly, unwillingly done till then. Yuya had become stronger. She had practiced for so long with her three-barreled gun, that she almost felt it was a part of her. She had also learnt to wield the short sword that Muramasa had given to her so lovingly, often resorting to it whenever the battle was close ranged.

Except for the very obvious challenges that had come their way, Yuya had more or less taken good care of herself, never relying on Hotaru to back her up or finish her fights.

Yuya remembered.

"'_Uhm…Hotaru-san?'_

'…'

'_Why are you…why are you helping me?'_

_Hotaru looked up from the floor, where he had been busy prodding a caterpillar he had found on the street, out of the way._

'_I mean, I am thankful for everything you've done for me –'_

'_I have not done anything.'_

'_Huh?'_

'_I have not done anything for you. It's just that…I want to become stronger and I want to beat Kyo. That is all I want to do.'_

_Confused Yuya did not question him further but went back to sleep on her makeshift bed near the fireplace." _

'Hotaru?'

'Hm?'

'Did you find anything?'

Hotaru looked up from his empty tankard. A small moustache of foam had settled on his upper lip and Yuya resisted the temptation to laugh.

'Find what?' he asked innocently.

Growling in frustration, she lowered her voice and said, 'you had gone to find weaknesses around the perimeter of the manor, remember?! You were supposed to check the layout of the place and devise a way for us to get into the house without drawing attention to ourselves?'

Hotaru gave a small sheepish look, the corners of his mouth twitching. 'I...forgot.'

Yuya looks quite furious, he thought, almost angrier then when that man –

'Hotaru!'

'Well,' he said quickly, 'those guards are nothing. I could easily kill all of them and –'

'No! Don't you see? We can't go blundering in like that? We just can't afford to draw attention to ourselves!'

She said apoplectically, balling her fists.

'Oh-k. I'll go and have a look.'

Yuya got up resignedly and tossing a few coins on the table said, 'I'll come with you. There's no guarantee you won't forget what you're supposed to do again. Besides, a couple strolling about will attract much less attention then a weird lonely guy hanging about.' She said as they walked out of the bar, the bartender looking relieved.

Outside, it had begun to snow as the first stars appeared in the clear night, as they wandered aimlessly towards the manor, which was located almost opposite to bar.

'It's strange, you know.' Hotaru broke the silence.

'What is strange?'

'That such a…a good house, is located right here in this cheap district, more or less next to all the dangerous places.'

'I know.' Yuya said without really bothering. She had also got a shock when she'd realized that the house she was looking for was more of a mansion, when she'd been expecting some shack like all those surrounding it. But for some reason, it didn't matter now. Smiling to herself, she linked her arm to Hotaru's as she had seen the English couples do and felt him stiffen under her fingers.

After some time, he relaxed and she dared look at his face. As usual, it was devoid of any expression.

He avoided looking anywhere near her.

_Yuya had come to believe that Hotaru didn't care. He didn't care for her at all or her purpose of coming here. But she had been wrong. And she was so happy that she was wrong._

A small glow of happiness warmed her in the chilly evening.

-

-

-

_**Hey readers! I am so sorry for the long delay! This chapter was almost complete in my mind because nothing substantial in the plot happens here, but I had to put some finishing touches and couldn't get the time. By the way, I have my pre-boards from the 22**__**nd**__** so I don't think I'll get much time to write anything before the 5th.**_

_**Hope you like it! Keep reading and reviewing!**_


	6. Six

**6.**

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

'We are being followed.'

Yuya thought she might have a heart attack.

They had been roaming for almost fifteen minutes, out and about the manor, in complete silence, savoring the simple night, when Hotaru made the announcement in a totally nonchalant way.

'Followed?' Yuya whispered out of the corner of her mouth, her eyes darting to the sides nervously as they continued to plough through the dirty snow on the cobbled streets.

'Yup,' he said, nodding his head forcefully, 'back th –'

'_Ok, ok _I get it!_'_ she hissed hastily, preventing him just in time from pointing out.

'I think we should act like we've not noticed her at all and continue on our way,' Hotaru said wisely.

'_Her?'_ asked Yuya sharply, 'It's a woman?'

Hotaru replied, 'I don't know.'

'Then why did you say _her_?'

Hotaru shrugged and mumbled, 'If I would have said him then you would have asked if it's a man. So it doesn't matter really because I don't know. _And_ it could be an _it_ too.'

Yuya didn't know what to say to such twisted logic so she asked instead, 'Who do you think could it be? We haven't drawn much attention to ourselves, well, except for the pub-thing, anyway.'

Hotaru did not look concerned, 'It could be the man whom you insulted earlier in the bar. He must be looking for revenge'

Looking quite aghast, Yuya mulled over the matter before brightening up and pointing out, 'And what about _you_, huh? You were the one who had to butt in and start the fight. He might as well be coming to beat you up, you know.'

Hotaru rolled his eyes as if to say,_ yeah, right and I should be worried because?_

'Well anyways, what should we do? We can't go around the manor now we know someone is watching and might get suspicious.' Yuya asked him anxiously. She hadn't planned to get involved in any trouble when she had come this close to her purpose. She just couldn't afford to. But as always, her striking looks and perplexingly reclusive manner had made sure she got to be the centre of attraction for all the hassles.

Hotaru was quiet for a minute and Yuya could almost see the question being processed in his brain and his mind slowing pondering over the problem.

_There,_ it looked as if he had come to a conclusion. _No,_ he lost himself in contemplation again, his brow lined uncharacteristically.

'We'll trap him/her/it.' Hotaru said abruptly, 'we'll lead him/her/it to a dead end and then I'll jump over him and close his/her/it's escape route.'

Yuya didn't think much of the plan of course since it involved her getting caught in between their pursuer and a brick wall but since she couldn't think of anything else (she blamed it on the disturbing cold), she gritted her teeth to stop them from chattering and gave a curt nod.

'Let's do it.'

-

-

-

The man following the duo saw the girl stumble and catch the boy's arm to stop herself from falling. The boy firmly clasped her hand as they continued walking, the girl's head on his shoulder.

The man snorted at the obvious display of affection and continued to follow them at a distance, occasionally stopping to tie his shoe lace or light his pipe.

All of sudden, the couple slowed down and as if caught in some urgency ducked in an alleyway.

Cursing under his breath, the man sped up, aware that they could escape unnoticed into a nearby lane if he didn't hurry even as alarm bells rung in his head that he might be intruding into something clandestine.

_The nerve of young! _

Reaching the offending entrance he silently slipped into darkened alley way which turned out to be –

The girl slowly turned about to face him, her mouth set in a harsh line.

– a dead end.

The man whipped around.

The boy stood at the opening of the blind alley, his silhouette strangely impressive against the glare of the falling snow outside. The man couldn't see his face in the darkness but his eyes burned brilliantly, and a thin naked blade gleamed in his hand.

'What do you want?' the boy asked.

-

-

-

'What do you want?' asked Yuya in English.

The man was dressed shabbily, his face sporting a day's old beard. He had not moved a single inch.

'Why are you following us?' Yuya demanded, moving away from the wall.

The man looked over his shoulder at her. To Yuya's disquiet, he didn't look like a man cowering for his life. He merely looked surprised.

Before he could open his mouth, Yuya said to him unkindly, 'You can start cooperating by throwing away your gun, mister.'

The man unbuckled his holster and flung it away. It was made of fine leather and decorated richly.

Yuya's suspicions deepened instantly and she repeated, 'What do you want?'

The man spoke with an amused expression, still facing Hotaru, his eyes never leaving the blade,

'I heard _him_ the first time, miss.'

Yuya staggered.

In front of her Hotaru gripped his sword tighter, his eyes widening in shock.

The man had not spoken in the native language of the island.

He had spoken in Japanese.

_

**Present Day,**

**The Mibu Castle,**

**Japan**

**_**

Shinrei glowered down.

He had been tapping the floor of the huge cavernous underground hall for hours now, looking for hidden cavities or secret shelves without breaking apart the whole place.

He _knew_ everyone was counting on him.

_Shinrei-sama will find the cure. Shinrei will save the Mibu. We trust you, Shinrei-san._

They had faith in him. The only problem was _he_ didn't trust himself.

Like now, he didn't know if he was right spending his time exploring the secret library or not.

'_Forget it Shinrei, you won't find anything else there,' Akari-san's voice echoed in his head, 'Finding the records was a fluke. You should be looking for Rourou's mother like everyone else or at least help me in carrying out the tests on Rourou, instead of poking around this musty old room.'_

He had even missed the day's council meeting.

Maybe she was speaking the truth, thought Shinrei glumly; he hadn't seen proper sunlight for days now, considering he had spent almost all his time in the Former Aka No Ou's hidden library, searching, searching, and searching. Searching for anything that might help them discover the Cure.

It was he, who had discovered the old documents and evidence of the disease; it was he, who had made the connection between Aka-chan and Rourou.

And he was the one, who was going to find the Cure.

Scowling he shook his head. _Of course_ he was right in trying to investigate the covert hall.

Confidence rejuvenated, he snorted in derisiveness. How _dare_ the people criticize him?

And since when had _he _started paying attention to what that transsexual said?

Shinrei distinctly remembered opposing the Aka No Ou's decision of giving the last place to Akari-san in the Elder Council because she was not a Mibu and his slow change of heart as he witnessed how she strived and slogged to help the Mibu people, despite the fact that she didn't need to. In the end even Shinrei was forced to admit that the position couldn't have gone to a better candidate. Akari was all that Hshigi-sama had been and much more.

But that didn't mean whatever she said made it right. If she didn't like his spending his time in the library, she'd have to live with it. After all, Shinrei was still annoyed at her for babbling about the Cure in the council without consulting him first.

Shaking his head, Shinrei checked the time against the hourglass and decided to call it a day. Standing up he dusted himself, sub-consciously making excuses for Anna as to why he was late for dinner.

With a jolt of guilt, he realized that he hadn't been going to Yuan's home since the last council meeting when they had got to know about the Disease. He remembered Yuan's hopeful expression when Akari-san had so excitedly told everyone about the Cure and how his face fell down when Shinrei was forced to bring them all back down to earth.

Perhaps Yuan understood.

Maybe he understood how impossibly difficult it was for them to find Rourou's mother. Perhaps, he was the only one beside Shinrei who truly knew how bleak their prospect actually looked, how thin their hopes had been stretched. Both Shinrei and Yuan knew the bitter truth.

And both _knew_ that the other knew that _they_ knew.

Shinrei sighed and returned back to work. He couldn't face Yuan. Not now. Not today.

He put in another hour of hard work, completely making sure that there was nothing under the tiled floors of the entire hundred by eighty foot hall, before he allowed his mind to wander again, as he slipped down against a wall in respite.

Yuan and his siblings had welcomed him into their 'small' family, just as they had 'adopted' Keikokou.

Keikokou.

It still bothered him to think that he, being the legitimate son had never really understood what it really meant to be part of a family until now, whereas Keikokou, who had been disowned at birth, had had a great family and even greater friends for his entire life.

Strange how fate had dealt with the two brothers; fire and water, yin and yang, polar opposites in their views and behavior.

Shinrei vaguely wondered where the bastard of a half-a-brother he had, currently was; probably driving the people of some faraway country as crazy as himself.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he thought about how he was so much better than Keikokou in everything.

Returning to his work, he continued to inspect each and every nook and cranny of the gigantic library.

All the books, papers and tables had already been taken out, taken apart and inspected under his strict supervision without producing much result save for the papers concerning the Project Holy Destruction.

Now only the colossal room remained intact, unwilling to give up any secrets it might have.

The sun went down outside.

Disgruntled at the lack of a result, Shinrei stretched up and yawned.

It was then that he felt the faintest sensation of moisture on his head.

Bringing his hand to his scalp, Shinrei touched his hair. Yes, there it was! A few strands of wet hair where a tiny drop had apparently fallen.

Shinrei frowned. He was aware that the library was located just below the castle hot springs. So there was bound to be some water seeping in through the ceiling. Then why did the single drop bother him so much?

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

He touched his head again.

_Cold._

The water was _cold_ not hot!

Suddenly some of the earlier suspicions he had had, on discovering the library, returned.

_Why would the Former Aka No Ou build his library somewhere,_ thought Shinrei excitedly as he climbed the staircase to the ground floor_, where there was the greatest chance of spoiling his books? Surely there must have been something, something to prevent the ceiling from leaking at all costs._

Quickening his pace, he crashed into the bathing halls, ignoring the cries he elicited. Going over to where he knew he had been standing a level below a few minutes ago, he ordered everyone to clear away.

When the last of the disgruntled bathers had shuffled away, clutching their towels, Shinrei finally let the anticipation show on his face.

Raising his curved blade he whispered a short command. Immediately, water began draining out from the pool in front of him. A few seconds later, Shinrei was down on his knees, examining the bottom of the pool.

_Hollow. Hollow. Hollow._

It was entirely hollow!

Shinrei didn't even need his blade. He smashed open through the flimsy foundation.

The stone broke and fell down, revealing the true depth of the pool.

As the dust cleared away, Shinrei leaned forward straining his eyes to see in the darkness.

His breath caught in his throat.

_

**Present Day,**

**Londinium,**

**Kingdom of Britain**

**_**

The man moved.

Before Yuya could as much as touch her three-barreled gun, the man had jumped up into the air and attacked Hotaru from above.

_Attacked?_

_Hadn't she just seen him throw away his gun?_

Raising her eyes she stared in pure shock at the slender rapier that had appeared in the man's hand from nowhere.

Hotaru caught the man on his own blade and thrust him away. Before he could even look surprised, the man rebounded on the wall and slashed downwards. Hotaru stopped his attack again and retaliated with a jab of his own which the man easily parried. Leaping over him Hotaru drove his sword down until he met his opponent's weapon with a clang and pushed forward. For a moment it looked as if he could cut through, but the man blocked his sword and turned around, taking the boy off his feet.

Both of them crashed into the wall as momentum carried them forwards and Yuya screamed.

The man was bulkier and larger than Hotaru. Even as he stumbled to his feet, Hotaru was already hacking him left and right, each of his blows being surprisingly blocked.

With a grunt the man dug in his feet and refused to move back any further. Yuya saw Hotaru's eyes narrow in that rare concentration when fighting a worthy opponent that she was so well acquainted with as he drew back from the man.

His eyes radiating strength, Hotaru called up his _power._ Dazzling yellow flames ran up and down his blade, illuminating the entire alley.

Yuya gasped. Never in their two years of traveling together had she seen him call up his power so quickly in a fight. He always used it as a last resort or when the opponent was too stubborn to give in. This man must be strong.

She gulped and moved backwards into the wall. One wrong aim and she could as well get cooked.

Perhaps Hotaru realized it as well at that moment for his eyes lost their anger and met her own for a fleeting moment before he resorted to attack the man with his sword, without using any technique.

Yuya looked at him, dodging and sparring with the unknown man. She had to do something! She _couldn't_ become his weakness.

Cocking her gun in front of her she tried to aim for the man but it was impossible. Not only were they moving so fast that it hurt her eyes just to follow their progress but her hands shook badly so that she couldn't hold her gun straight. _What if she hit Hotaru?_

Breathing down her panic, Yuya tried to think. She couldn't leave the alley without getting caught in between the fight, she couldn't climb the wall behind her and she couldn't even help Hotaru.

She knew Hotaru hadn't even thought of using his power when they had talked about entrapping the man in the alleyway because neither of them had ever expected the man to be so strong.

_So, it's his fault for underestimating his opponent_, Yuya thought haughtily even as she realized that the only reason Hotaru wasn't using his power was that it might put her in danger. _So,_ _I'll be the one to blame if he dies in this dingy alley tonight. Well, if he does die, _Yuya couldn't bear to think that something like that could happen,_ I won't last here much longer._

Her mind screamed at her to move, shoot, do something to get them out of this predicament.

Closing her eyes at her own helplessness, Yuya slid down the wall, her back scraping against the hard bricks.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"_The girl slid down against the tree, her breaths coming in short gasps. In front of her dead bodies sprawled about the ground and the air reeked of blood. The lone man standing in the middle of the carnage looked up and noticed her for the first time. His crimson eyes met her emerald ones._

_Yuya tried to swallow back her fear. The man standing in front of her was the legendary Demon Eyes Kyo. _

_She tried to move her body but her muscles refused to obey and she involuntarily let out a frightened squeal._

_Now the man was walking towards her._

_Run! Run! Her mind shrieked but she didn't, couldn't move. Fear had paralyzed her._

_The man loomed over her as he slowly turned his eyes down on her. Red, shining, dangerous eyes that sent shivers down her body. The eyes of a demon._

'_You're…Demon Eyes Kyo…' she whispered almost unwillingly._

'_Yes.' The man snarled arrogantly._

_Yuya found her voice, 'Where…where is Kyoshiro?'_

_She saw a momentary flash of anger in the man's eyes before he answered unpleasantly, 'Him? He was in control for a long time. Right now, he's here.' He smiled cruelly, pointing to his chest._

_Yuya struggled with words but before she could say anything, the man said in a low spiteful voice, 'Don't be mistaken. I didn't save you. I don't intend to save you.'_

_Yuya forgot to breathe as he thrust the hilt of his sword in the bark of the tree, less than an inch from her face._

_The man smirked in amusement and said, 'If you understand, beg me to let you live. Kneel down and say 'save me' and I'll think about it.'_

_His voice was like poison, malice dripping from each word as he glared at Yuya in morbid delight, asking her to give up all her pride. _

_Yuya hung her head down, almost bowing before him. She was going to die here anyway. She knew that. Why not try to save herself by pleading for her life? _

_A tiny spark kindled within her. It took her a moment to realize that it was cold fury._

_She would NOT beg! She had always lived her life on her own terms. If she had to die then she'll die on her own terms as well._

_She arched up as high as she could and her head cracked against the man's, who was leaning over her. _

'_I WON'T EVER TELL YOU TO SAVE ME!!' she yelled._

_The man growled in surprise more than anything else as he drew back, massaging his chin._

'_I, I don't have any time to waste!! If…if you want to kill me, then just kill me!! But…I have to search for the man who has the cross-shaped scar on his back!!' Yuya continued to scream._

'_I have to find him and…AND I WILL KILL HIM NO MATTER WHAT!!! Until that happens I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!!' She finished in an angry tirade, panting._

_The man cocked his head, 'Is that all you've got to say?'"_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuya's eyes focused back on the fight in front oh her.

She was NOT going to give in to the circumstances.

She had faced Oda Nobunaga and Mibu Kyouchirou and other foul things; and most of all; she had confronted and been stuck with none other than the Demon Eyes Kyo and come out alive.

She had faith in herself.

Taking a deep breath she got to her feet and took careful aim. The barrel of her gun continued to change its angle as the combatants whirled around each other in an unceasing dance, their swords flashing and striking against each other.

Her eyes followed the man's progress as did her aim. _Up, slash, right, parry, block, left, up, block, left, hack._

Her hands turned white as she gripped her gun and pulled the trigger.

-

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-

_**Hey readers! I know this took a lot of time in coming. Actually I wrote this whole chapter in about two hours. The ideas were already there, I just had to pen them down. Hope you enjoy! Keep reading and reviewing!**_


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